Questioning Of Jurors Continues Simpson Judge Investigating Reports Of Racial Animosity

Testimony stopped and the O.J. Simpson trial went behind closed doors as the judge ventured into the sequestered world of Simpson’s jurors, quizzing them about personal and racial rifts.

With attorneys present but Simpson excluded, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito moved proceedings into his chambers Tuesday and began hearing from jurors one at a time about reports of animosity raging within their cloistered domain.

Four jurors were questioned Tuesday, and interviews resumed Wednesday morning. Sitting in on the questioning were defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran Jr. and Robert Shapiro and prosecutors Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden.

Ito also was calling sheriff’s deputies assigned to guard the predominantly black jury; the deputies have been accused of favoritism toward white jurors.

Judges “only have the power to probe. They don’t have the power to coerce jurors to get along,” said Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson. “I don’t think he can force them to be nice to each other.”

Ito suspended trial testimony until today. Wednesday morning, he also canceled a hearing on sanctions scheduled for late afternoon.

The inquiry into the jurors’ conflicts was prompted by comments from dismissed juror Jeanette Harris about racial disputes and squabbles over trivial matters.

She told the judge that jurors were separating by race when they exercise, when they go shopping and when they watch movies. She lay the blame for some of the problem on the deputies, who handle the 24-hour job of keeping jurors insulated from outside influences and news accounts of the trial.

Harris also complained that jurors were being treated as if they were prisoners and deputies were fueling discord among them. The Sheriff’s Department has refused to comment.

Ito rejected Simpson’s request to attend the jury sessions in the judge’s chambers.

The judge indicated the penal code doesn’t require it and said the situation is so unusual there is little case law to guide him.

Six panelists have been removed previously, leaving just six alternates to the 12-person jury with months to go in the trial. If the number of jurors drops below 12, a mistrial would be declared unless both sides agree to proceed with fewer than a dozen panelists.

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